The Unknown Nightmare/Episode 38
"How It Ends" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of The Unknown Nightmare and the third episode of the final four. This episode serves as the penultimate episode of the story. Plot Synopsis As the story draws to a close, each character gets to where they are supposed to be, but things may not turn out the way they want, leading into the finale. Previously... On The Unknown Nightmare After Charlie put down Emily, he called Joe, who said that he was forced to kill Emily after Charlie failed his test. They made a plan, and went to the lab. After killing some of his guards and getting into the lab, the code from the map didn't work on the machine. Joe appeared outside, and Hawkins was killed while they were inside. They were all put into cars except for Rachel, who was on her knees. Charlie tried to break free from the car, and as he did, Joe shot Rachel in the head. Plot Flashback (Hospital: Months Before the Outbreak) Joe set the tray onto the table, rolling it towards the bed. He stopped it over her stomach, waiting for her to lift herself up to eat. She barely managed to sit up, too tired to do it by herself. Joe helped her, putting his hands under her arms, lifting her up a small bit. She forced a smile, but her pale face was too heartbreaking for Joe to smile back. She sighed for a few seconds, trying to get into a comfortable position, just as long as the pain went away. She had told him repeatedly that she wasn't hungry, but he always told her that she had to, so that she would get better. She lifted her arm, grabbing the spoon. She used all her strength to lift it to her mouth, taking her first gulp of the soup. Joe sat back on his chair, watching her eat. After she swallowed, she set the spoon in the bowl. She looked at him, wondering why he looked so worried. "Dad?" she asked, her ten-year-old face looking so innocent. "Yeah?" he replied, his voice seeming suspiciously quiet. "Why do you look so sad?" she asked. "I'm not sad", Joe said. He couldn't tell her, he couldn't let her know what was going to happen. He didn't want her to be scared. She grabbed a notepad from her bedside table. She opened it up, finding the right page. "Come here", she said, patting the bed. He stood up, lying next to her. He looked at the pictures she drew. All the pictures were bright and happy, something he wished he could bring her. But then, she stopped on one of the pages. This drawing was drawn in a black marker. Three stars in the shape of a triangle, all connected by lines. He looked closely at it, trying to comprehend what it meant. "What's this?" Joe asked. "That's you", she said, "And that's mommy". She pointed at the stars on the bottom. "What about this one?" Joe asked, pointing to the one on the top. She took a while to speak, "Me". "Why are you on top?" Joe smiled. "Because I'll be able to look down on you from heaven", she said, her voice both happy and sad. He didn't know what to say. He thought she didn't know, but maybe deep down she did. She could've heard on television or something, somebody saying something about cancer. He put his arm around her, and she laid her head on his chest. He closed his eyes, hoping that there would be a miracle, that maybe there'd be an operation or a cure. But she died that night. ---- Present (Southfalls: Day 40) They threw Charlie on the ground, landing on his chest. He just lay there, not wanting to get up. They left Southfalls, leaving the remaining survivors alone. The townspeople looked confused, unaware of what had happened. Sean ran over to him, helping him up. Charlie pushed him away, helping himself up. Charlie looked at the group, who just stared at him. He scoffed, walking into the City Hall. He sat in the mayor's office, which was now Jason's office. He had the picture of his family in his hand, tears streaming down his face. He just wanted to be alone, but then, there was a knock on the door. They let themselves in, closing the door behind them. "You okay?" Sean asked. "We..." Charlie began, "We were so... close". "We can get the code", Sean said, "He has it". "I'm not talking about the damn machine", Charlie snapped, "I'm talking about him. We could have killed him. Hell, for the month that I worked for him,'' I... could have gotten him". Sean leant against the door, "None of us saw that coming". Charlie stood up, turning to him. ---- 'Present (Joe's Town: Day 40)' Joe looked down into the pit, the burning bodies making a tall pillar of smoke. He looked closely at the bodies, Rachel and Hawkins a part of them. He closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the flames. ---- 'Present (Southfalls: Day 40)' Sean saw the tears in Charlie's eyes, the pain. Sean felt somewhat guilty, he could have done something. Charlie broke down, "HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT!" Sean walked towards him, putting his arms around Charlie. The hug was one-way. Charlie cried into his shoulder, feeling like shit. He put all his weight on Sean, collapsing. An idea came into his head. ---- "What's the plan?" Andy asked. "I go to Joe's town", Charlie explained, "I bring this phone, you take Sean's. If I can get the code, I'll call you". "That sounds kind of dangerous", Ava said. "He doesn't want us dead", Charlie said, "He won't kill me". "So what do we do?" Jason asked. "A couple of you go to the lab", Charlie said, "The others stay here". "Why here?" Andy asked. "Because when I get the code, I'm killing him". They all stayed silent, waiting for him to explain further. "When I kill him", Charlie continued, "His people might come here". "I thought he had leverage on all of his people. Wouldn't they be glad that he's dead?" Molly asked. "He can't have leverage on ''all of them. No way are all of them good", Charlie said. "Sounds like a plan", Jason said. As they walked over to the weapon shack, Andy stopped Charlie. "If you kill him, and all of his people come over here", Andy said, "What happens to you?" Sean walked over to them, handing them machine guns, "Nothing, because I'm going with him". "No you're not", Charlie said. "Yes I am", Sean snapped, "I owe you". Charlie nodded, allowing him to go with him. They all got ready. Andy and Ava were going to the lab, while Jason, Molly, Xander and Henry stayed at Southfalls. The townspeople got ready too, some of them stayed up at the watchtowers, while others got cars inside, using them for cover from the front gates. When everyone was in place, both groups got ready to set off. Andy and Charlie stood in front of each other, both not ready for what they had to do. "Look..." Charlie began, "If I don't make it back-" "Don't", Andy interrupted him, "We're all gonna make it out of this". Charlie nodded, not sure if he actually wanted to make it out. Both Sean and Charlie had nothing, and Andy had Ava. Andy lifted his hand, waiting for Charlie to shake it. Charlie grabbed him, hugging him. Even though Andy was a bit of a dumbass, he and Charlie were friends. ---- Present (Outside Joe's Town: Day 40) The journey here had been quiet. Both Sean and Charlie chose not to speak. They took one of the last cars left in Southfalls, the Impala was still at the lab. Charlie was confident in the plan, at least part of it. Joe wouldn't expect them to go back to the lab so soon, and he wouldn't expect him and Sean to be at his town. They stood outside the fence, the one where Sean had escaped from when he left the jail cell. They looked down at the town. It was deserted. Not one person was in the streets, it was quiet. Sean and Charlie looked at each other, both confused as to what was going on. "What do you think happened?" Charlie asked. "I don't think they left", Sean answered, "Why would they just leave?" "Doesn't matter", Charlie said, "We're getting what we came for". As Sean threw his coat on the barbed wire on top of the fence, Charlie took a minute to think. "Before we go in there", Charlie said, "Me and you... we're good". Sean stopped what he was doing, he was relieved. If they both died right now, at least he would die knowing that he could be forgiven. Charlie extended his hand, Sean shaking it. It was weird. It began with both of them, it ends with both of them. They were either heading into death, or they were heading into a new world. Charlie had his machine gun strapped around his back, and he climbed the fence. Sean followed behind him, finding it somewhat funny that a month ago he used this to break out, now he's using it to break in. They ran behind two trucks opposite each other. They had their machine guns ready in their hands. They heard something in the distance, it sounded like people shouting. They ran around the tents, the man-made buildings until they saw the entire town inside the cell tower. They were being handed out guns. Charlie and Sean continued to the building where Joe was usually at. They opened the main door, the building was dark and deserted. They had their machine guns raised, waiting for movement. They quietly walked toward his office. When they were at the door, Sean opened it. There was nobody there, so they got to work. Charlie closed the door behind them, and they started to search his office. They looked through papers, file cabinets and everything. In one of the files in the cabinets, there were locations of everywhere they had been, including the room. Sean took them, maybe they would come in handy. In another file, they found everything to do with the labs. Charlie looked through it, eventually, he found the code. He started laughing, feeling relieved that they finally had it. He took out the phone, but the door behind them opened. "You get what you wanted?" Joe asked. They both turned around, aiming their guns at him. Joe raised his left hand, holding a button. "It didn't occur to you why all of this was left with nobody guarding it?" Joe asked, "You shoot me, I press the button and nobody gets the code". Sean backed towards the window, opening it. "This isn't about who gets the code, is it?" Charlie asked, "You're just afraid of dying and not getting what you want". Joe looked pissed, "You climb out that window, say goodbye to everyone at Southfalls". Charlie laughed, "You're scared... weak. You have nothing on us anymore. We're gonna win, and you're gonna lose". Sean climbed out the window, "Come on, Charlie". Charlie wanted to shoot him, he wanted to end it. But he couldn't risk it, so he jumped out the window. Joe ran through the building and when he got outside, he grabbed his guards' attention. "Kill them!" he shouted. The guards listened to him, running after Charlie and Sean. Joe had had enough. Since he had nothing on them anymore, and there wouldn't ever be a chance of them joining his team, there would be no point in them living. They ran to the fence, both quickly jumping over it. Bullets started flying towards them, and they were clearly outnumbered. Charlie ran to the left, Sean ran to the right. They were split up. Charlie kept running, as they kept shooting at him. He felt a sudden sharp feeling in his right arm. He looked at it, realizing he got shot. He kept running, eventually coming to one of the neighborhoods they had scavenged from. He looked behind him, noticing that he had lost them. He lost Sean, who he had hoped made it out. He kept walking, taking out the phone and dialing a number. "You got it?" Andy asked from the other end. "Yeah", Charlie sighed, holding his arm, "It's six digits. 4-8-2-3-1-5". "Okay", Andy said. "Are you there already?" Charlie asked. "Yeah", Andy sighed, "I'm putting the numbers in now". Charlie waited for Andy to say something, hoping that after all they had been through, they would get a win. "Charlie?" Andy asked. "I'm here", Charlie replied. "... It worked", Andy said. Charlie stopped walking, almost as if he was expecting it not to work. He was by an alleyway, and had to put his hand on the wall to balance himself. "We turned it off?" he asked. "Yeah", Andy said, "It'll take a while to take effect but... we did it". Charlie started laughing, almost crying, "You better destroy that place, he's gonna be pissed when he finds out". "He's still alive?" Andy asked. "We ran into some problems, but we won", Charlie smiled, "We won, Andy". "I'll see you when you get back", Andy said, hanging up the phone. Charlie leant his head against the wall, closing his eyes. It was amazing, they had finally done it. Joe was the only thing left. He noticed biters at the end of the street, but they didn't notice him. Charlie lifted himself off of the wall, beginning to walk again. Charlie turned into an alleyway. He looked at his arm, blood pouring from it. He kept pressure on it, wincing at the burning sensation that went up and down his arm. He started dialing a number. "That was brave", Joe answered. Charlie started laughing, "That was brave? It's not being brave if you've got nothing to lose". "It's all in good business", Joe sighed. "Good business?" Charlie asked, "You just tried to have me killed, there and you missed! Do you hear me?" Joe didn't answer. "Yeah", Charlie said, "You stay quiet. 'Cause guess what, bitch?" Charlie looked behind him, making sure he wasn't being followed. He turned back around. "You failed", Charlie smiled. As he turned around, with the greatest feeling ever, he came face to face with a gun. Standing about ten feet away from him, Ethan held a gun, aiming it at Charlie. He pulled the trigger, shooting Charlie straight in the chest, killing him instantly. Charlie fell backwards onto the ground, his eyes wide open, staring up at the sky. Blood was pouring from his chest, and his body was lying in a pool of blood. He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing, his heart wasn't beating. His eyes still open... still staring into the sky. Did you like this episode? Like Dislike Deaths *Charlie (For realz this time). Trivia *The origin of the tattoo is explained. **The three stars in the shape of a triangle is Joe's daughter's way of saying that she'd be looking down on him and his wife when she dies. *Joe's daughter had cancer, which could be part of the reason why he used Andy's wife's cancer against him. **Part of Joe's motives are based on his own experiences. Another example of this is that he had killed Sean, Andy and Charlie's families, as his own family had died before the outbreak, making them feel the same as he felt. Alone. *Charlie's final words were, "You failed", the same words that Joe said to him in season one when Charlie failed his test. *After two-three seasons of hatred between Charlie and Sean, they finally cleared it up in this episode, choosing to work together as allies. *Ethan is confirmed to be alive in this episode, even though he was shown in the season one finale being killed by Sean. Category:The Unknown Nightmare Category:The Unknown Nightmare Episodes Category:Issues